People of Saranam

Bruce Harris, Teacher

American-born, and now living in France, Bruce Harris has been practicing Zen for 50 years. Bruce’s first inspiration was Rinzai Zen, after which he turned to the Sanbo Zen lineage, studying at San’un Zendo in Kamamkura under the direction of Kôun Yamada. Since Yamada Roshi’s death in 1989, he has studied with his successors, Jiun Kubota and Ryôun Yamada. Bruce has been authorized to teach in this tradition, which combines the Rinzai and Sôtô schools. He is also inspired by his encounter with the heart-centered transmissions of Mahamudra, Dzogchen, and the early Desert Fathers. Very open-minded and interested in all traditions, Bruce inspires his students to feel that we are all on a shared path together. Bruce is also a painter and a woodblock artist.

 

Saranam Board of Directors

 

Barbara Weaner, President, received a Master of Science in Nursing from Yale University and worked for 34 years as a Family Nurse Practitioner. She was also a Certified Nurse Midwife. She is now retired. . She previously served as a board member of Mountain Hospice, the West Virginia Highlands Conservancy, and the St. George Medical Clinic. She shares a small farm with her husband and family.​

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Hugh Rogers, Treasurer, is a retired trial and appellate attorney who practiced in North Carolina and West Virginia. He is a former president and longtime board member of the West Virginia Highlands Conservancy, former chair of the Board of Commissioners of the Randolph County Housing Authority, and president of Corridor H Alternatives.

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Dana Shimrock, Secretary, earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Education and a Master of Library Science degree from the University of Pittsburgh. She was employed for 17 years as a schoolteacher and for 23 years as the director of the Library at Garrett College in Western Maryland. She is now retired.

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Will W. Adams serves as a psychology professor at Duquesne University in Pittsburgh, PA and as an ecopsychologist and meditation teacher. He completed a BS degree at the University of North Carolina, a Master of Artsin psychology at West Georgia College, a Ph.D. in clinical psychology at Duquesne University, and a clinical fellowship at McLean Hospital/Harvard Medical School. His training includes 38 years of practice with esteemed meditation teachers, both Zen Buddhist and Christian. He is the author of the ecopsychology/ecospirituality book A Wild and Sacred Call: Nature-–Psyche—Spirit (SUNY Press, 2023). 

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Connie Banta is a retired therapist who has also worked as an English and French teacher and as a public relations writer for WVU. In addition to her service to Saranam managing the website, she also serves as president for the Appalachian Prison Book Project, creates artist books, leads creativity workshops, and engages in social justice activities in her community. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in English and French, a Master’s in English, a Master of Fine Arts in poetry, and a Masters in counseling.

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Akiko Endo has a Bachelor's degree from West Virginia University and currently works as a software developer. She is an oil painter and practices the art of origami. 

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Claudia Giannini holds a Master of Education in museum education and a Master of Fine Arts in visual art. She has worked in the museum field, including the Smithsonian, the Carnegie Museum of Art and the Mattress Factory Museum of Contemporary Art for 38 years. She is also a visual artist who has exhibited her work throughout the country. Claudia has studied Buddhism since 1994 and has studied Zen with Bruce Harris since 2008.

 

Tom Hoffman is a therapist with a Master’s degree in social work. He has worked for over 40 years for the Appalachian Community Health Center, first with children placed in foster care and later as a general clinician. He is also a musician and has played traditional Appalachian music for 50 years.

 

Erin McCanlies has an undergraduate degree in molecular biology and graduate degrees in epidemiology (PhD), public health, and counseling. She worked for a time at the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico, where she became interested in Buddhism and meditation. After moving to Pittsburgh and then Morgantown, WV, she continued to learn about Buddhism.  In Morgantown she worked at the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health where she studied stress and resilience in police officers and parent workplace exposures that might be linked to autism. She has been studying with Bruce Harris for a number of years now.

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Domenica Queen is a Hispappalachian (Hispanic-Appalachian) fiber and textile artist based in Elkins, WV. Heavily influenced by the visual language and craft traditions of her Catalan, Appalachian and Mexican family, she uses heritage textile and fiber art techniques to create heirloom artworks from common single-use plastics. In addition to showing work in gallery settings, she facilitates public art and community engagement, publicly demonstrates her techniques, and teaches workshops about creative reuse.  Domenica holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Shepherd University and serves as the operations director on the leadership team at the WV Creative Network.

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Gabriel Rogers is a woodworker and essayist. He grew up just a few miles from Saranam and started practicing meditation with Bruce Harris as a teenager. He studied religion and environmental studies at Swarthmore College, then woodworking and carpentry at Yestermorrow Design/Build School. He served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in El Salvador and worked for a season on a farm in Patagonia. He received his Master of Fine Arts in creative non-fiction writing from West Virginia Wesleyan College while living in Greece. His essays have been published in Boulevard, Kestrel, Full Stop, Hairstreak Butterfly Review, and elsewhere. He is currently establishing his woodworking shop in a cabin he built across the creek from his childhood home.

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Ruth Blackwell Rogers is an artist with a Master’s degree in painting. As a Peace Corps Volunteer, she taught English at Ewha Woman’s College in Seoul, Korea. She has been involved in environmental issues in West Virginia, and she has led hikes in the Monongahela National Forest.

 

Kyle Weaner is a Tibetan medical practitioner, massage therapist, and yoga teacher. He is the owner of the Jivaka Wellness Center in Elkins, WV, and has led the Tergar meditation group there since 2013. Kyle organizes retreats at Saranam and can be hired to cook upon request.

 

Larisa Wells earned a Bachelor of Science in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Virginia. She worked as a flight simulation software engineer for 20 years, followed by 25 years as a robotics systems engineer and program manager for an additional 25 years. She is an acrylic painter and potter and has served on the board of the Randolph County Community Arts Center.